Gaza Plunged Back Into War
Trump pledge to bring peace to Middle East, Eastern Europe unfulfilled weeks into his administration
Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, saying it was striking dozens of Hamas targets in its heaviest assault on the territory since a ceasefire took effect in January. Hospitals reported more than 400 people killed, including women and children.The surprise attack shattered a period of relative calm during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and raised the prospect of a full return to fighting in a 17-month war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused widespread destruction across Gaza. A doctor working at a Gaza hospital said she had witnessed “a level of horror” that was hard to articulate after Israel’s surprise bombardment of the territory. Dr. Tanya Haj Hassan said the pediatric intensive care unit was full. She said she had personally treated at least five patients who died in the emergency room. “The ER was just chaos, patients everywhere, on the floor,” she said. “There were probably three men, and the rest were all children, women, elderly, everybody caught in their sleep, still wrapped in blankets. Terrifying.” - AP
Egypt, a key mediator in Gaza ceasefire talks, lashed out at Israel, calling its new offensive on Gaza a “flagrant violation of the ceasefire deal.” The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it rejects “all Israeli attacks which aim to … make ongoing efforts to de-escalate and regain stability fail.” Turkey, the U.N. and many other countries have slammed Israel for the renewed carnage
Israel’s strikes followed weeks of fruitless negotiations to agree an extension to its truce with Hamas. At dawn on Tuesday, it was not yet clear whether this was a brief attempt to force Hamas to compromise at those talks — or the start of a new, months-long phase of war in which it would try to force Hamas from Gaza, once and for all - NYT
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to have their long-awaited phone call today to discuss a proposed 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine. The call will take place between 1300 and 1500 GMT (0900 and 1100 ET). However, as I told BBC World Television’s Karin Giannone today, it looks increasingly as if the two sides are working towards the partitioning of Ukraine. Assets which were previously not on the table now are, including: the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (Europe’s largest, in Russian hands and frequently in crisis dues to Russian mishandling of the facility); ports, the “Black Sea Agreement.” Ukrainian officials are said to fear that Odesa port, the country’s largest, is also on the table. I told BBC that it appears, at least to me, that Mr Trump has so much disdain for Ukraine and its president that he’s willing to see it sink to failed state status. “He wants Canada to become the 51st state so it isn’t far-fetched for him to have Ukraine as a failed state.” As The New York Times reported, “He (Trump) will, in essence, be negotiating over how large a reward Russia will receive for its 11 years of open aggression against Ukraine, starting with its seizure of Crimea in 2014 and extending through the full-scale war Mr. Putin started three years ago.’
“He (Trump) will, in essence, be negotiating over how large a reward Russia will receive for its 11 years of open aggression against Ukraine, starting with its seizure of Crimea in 2014 and extending through the full-scale war Mr. Putin started three years ago” - David Sanger, The New York Times
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), the Prague-based independent media outlet which provides news to more than 100-million people in 20+ countries, could close by the end of the month if it does’t come up with the $142-million annual budget that was slashed by US President Donald Trump via executive order. Even though its entire budget is congressionally funded, Mr. Trump appears to have over-stepped his authority by de-funding the outlet, along with the Voice of America, in what’s been described in global media circles as ‘Bloody Saturday.” At stake are the jobs of about 800 full-time staff and 800 freelancers. Many of the outlet’s reporters and correspondents operate incognito in countries where the media is repressed. As the media organization explains, “For over 70 years RFE/RL has served as a beacon of hope, leading audiences out of information darkness. RFE/RL’s work remains as relevant as ever since our first broadcast in 1950.” I’ve described RFE/RL as the “digital Berlin Wall, keeping in check the bad guys by exposing their nefarious activities and keep the good guys in check by exposing corruption and other misdeeds.” I am a huge fan of the award-winning investigative program, Schemes, which every week exposes corrupt practices of the government in Kyiv, shenanigans of oligarchs and others. In a way, a tribute to the show is that the Zelensky team is said not to like it, a senior RFE/RL staffer told me this morning. It is unclear who has the financial heft to replace the withdrawn U.S. support: European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday that it was sad to hear that the U.S. was withdrawing funding for RFE/RL but that the EU cannot “automatically” come in with funding.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday suggested that Chinese President Xi Jinping may visit the United States "in the not-too-distant future" for talks as economic tensions escalate between the powers. Trump has slapped 20% levies on all imports from China since taking office in January, faulting Beijing for not halting the flow of chemicals used to make illegal fentanyl, a leading cause of U.S. drug overdose deaths. Trump has voiced optimism in recent weeks about having a good relationship with Xi. But there has been little sign of progress on a range of issues splitting the nations, from tariffs to Taiwan. China objects to the tariffs and says it has taken serious action on counter-narcotics. Beijing has imposed a limited set of its own retaliatory trade actions. "He'll be coming," Trump said, "in the not-too-distant future." Trump made the comments as an aside during a board meeting at the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center in Washington - Reuters
A federal judge on Monday questioned whether the Trump administration ignored his orders to turn around planes carrying deportees to El Salvador, a possible violation of the decision he’d issued minutes before. District Judge James E. Boasberg was incredulous over the administration’s contentions that his verbal directions did not count, that only his written order needed to be followed, that it couldn’t apply to flights that had left the U.S. and that the administration could not answer his questions about the deportations due to national security issues. “That’s one heck of a stretch, I think,” Boasberg replied, noting that the administration knew as the planes were departing that he was about to decide whether to briefly halt deportations being made under a rarely used 18th century law invoked by Trump about an hour earlier. “I’m just asking how you think my equitable powers do not attach to a plane that has departed the U.S., even if it’s in international airspace,” Boasberg added at another point. Deputy Associate Attorney General Abhishek Kambli contended that only Boasberg’s short written order, issued about 45 minutes after he made the verbal demand, counted. It did not contain any demands to reverse planes, and Kambli added that it was too late to redirect two planes that had left the U.S. by that time - AP
An oligarch and former MP of Moldova who allegedly masterminded a massive money laundering scheme that saw billions in Russian money pour into Europe and the USA has been arrested in the UK. Veaceslav Platon was arrested on Thursday in central London in connection with the 'Laundromat' operation that is said to have moved vast sums of criminal cash through the country's banking system with the help of corrupt judges. Beneficiaries of the funds – believed to be at least £16 billion but reportedly as high as £65 billion – have allegedly invested the laundered money in businesses and high-end property in London and other cities in wealthy nations, as well as splashing out on luxury goods. In 2012, a photo of Platon's now ex-wife, Elina Cobaleva, was posted on social media showing her posing in dark glasses on the bonnet of one of two brand new Bentleys bought for £216,000 by Valemont Properties, a British firm caught up in the financial scam. Platon, 52, appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court in London on Friday for an extradition hearing. He was remanded into custody and will appear there again this Friday. The General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Moldova announced his arrest in a Facebook post that said it was 'in contact with the British authorities to organise appropriate procedures, in view of presenting the citizen to the legal authorities in our country'. Veronica Dragalin, who stepped down last month as head of Moldova's Anti-Corruption Prosecution Office, added in her own post: 'This significant step has been made possible thanks to the efforts of anti-corruption prosecutors – those who have worked for years on the Laundromat file and others, those who have travelled to the UK over the past two years for meetings with UK authorities.' The complicated scam is said to have been run by criminals with links to the Kremlin and successor organisations to the KGB. - Mail Online
One of Hong Kong’s most prominent tycoons, Henderson Land Development’s founder Lee Shau-kee, died on Monday at age 97. The entrepreneur, known affectionately as “Fourth Uncle” by his staff and associates, built a business empire comprising seven Hong Kong-listed companies with a combined market value of HK$551 billion (US$71 billion) as of March 17, with interests in real estate, hotels, piped gas and a ferry operation.Lee, who is survived by five children, stepped down as chairman and managing director of Henderson in May 2019. His eldest son Peter Lee Ka-kit and younger son Martin Lee Ka-shing were appointed as joint chairmen and managing directors of one of Hong Kong’s largest developers, while the elder Lee remained as an executive director. “It is true that the business field is like a battlefield,” Lee said in his biography. “Each battle has its own configuration. Your partner in one battle may be your opponent in another. Life goes on. Friendship goes on. Business goes on. The real heroes care not for the win or the loss, as long as they know that they act according to their conscience within the realm of reason, ethics and compassion.” - SCMP
The journals…
